Droneship Recovery Engineer
SpaceX
Long Beach, CA, USA
Posted on Mar 13, 2026
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
DRONESHIP RECOVERY ENGINEER
SpaceX operates the world’s first automated unmanned vessel certified to land orbital class vehicles. The SpaceX recovery team has the awesome mission of ensuring SpaceX’s vehicles are successfully landed, recovered, and returned for subsequent flights. SpaceX recovery engineers are responsible for the operation of SpaceX’s fleet of droneships, astronaut recovery vessels, and fairing recovery vessels. Recovering and reflying rockets is historic and has changed the rocket industry for the future…and you could be a part of that team.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Own and manage critical droneship/vessel hardware used for booster and fairing recovery offshore
- Perform troubleshooting, upgrades, and shore side system maintenance on vessel hardware including mechanical, fluids, hydraulic, electrical, or control systems
- Ensure systems are in place to guarantee hardware mission readiness – including, but not limited to, preventative maintenance, critical spares, and hardware testing
- Design, build, and test new ground support equipment in support of improving recovery operations
- Develop work instructions to support ongoing operations, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades
- Identify areas of operational improvement & work with stakeholders to develop and implement innovative new solutions
- Support operational engineering duties for West Coast SpaceX vessels offshore
- Interface between Launch Teams, Vehicle Refurbishment, Flight Hardware Logistics and Recovery to improve overall strategies with Falcon 9 Reuse
- Remain synchronized with all recovery operations on both coasts to ensure commonality in hardware and operations where applicable
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics or other engineering discipline
- 1+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and/or maintaining mechanical/electrical hardware
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Experience in aerospace, robotics, or marine industry
- Experience operating and troubleshooting remote-operated ground control systems, high-speed data acquisition systems and instrumentation, motor controllers, VFDs, and/or PLCs
- Ability to work well in an integrated collaborative team environment including daily communication/interactions with technicians, engineers, and managers
- Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment
- Experience setting test objectives, writing test plans, and executing hands-on testing
- Experience with critical operations where real-time decision-making affects success criteria
- Detail-oriented, organized, and with a high sense of urgency
- Demonstrated drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Ability to work in a high-concentration, high-stress environment; good response to problems posed by short deadlines; prolonged mental concentration (under possible extended work hours)
- Willing to support offshore operations, including working recovery missions at sea averaging 4 or more days per quarter
- Ability to work long hours (10-12+ hour days) and weekends when required
- Willing to work in extreme outdoor environments – heat, cold, rain, wind, and open ocean
- Ability to climb ladders, work in tight/confined spaces, and lift/carry up to 25 lbs
- Willing to work with hazardous materials
- Ability to operate heavy machinery
- Ability to pass Air Force background checks for Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg
- Must have a valid Driver’s License
- Position is subject to pre-employment drug and random drug and alcohol testing
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
- To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
SpaceX is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SpaceX is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
Applicants wishing to view a copy of SpaceX’s Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should reach out to EEOCompliance@spacex.com.